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Darntus I
Balder Doris Darntus I (735 – 800), was a Darnussian military and political leader and one of the most influential men in history. He played a important role in the absorbtion of the islands of Narikaton into the Kingdom of Darnussia. His conquest of Narikaton and Zeeland extended the Darnussian world, and he was responsible for the unification of the many islands to the first unified Kingdom of Darnussia. Leading his armys across the unknown world, Darntus fought in civil war that left him the undisputed leader and King of the Darnussian land. After assuming control of the government, he began extensive reforms of society and government. He was proclaimed the Saviour King and Master of the Known World. Darntus's military campaigns are known in detail from his own written journals, and many details of his life are recorded by later historians. Information Background House of Darntus was one of the minor houses of city-state of Torchvan, and as landed nobles they held a seat in The Council of Eleven Houses, which was created to maintain Pax Narikaton, the hundread year peace that existed in 600's and 700's. The costly and bloody inter-Nariki warfare between the city-states of Narikaton had limited Narikaton's influence in the past, and their haegemony was threatened by Semites, Östers and the new potential enemies from mainland. The Council aimed to protect Narikatonite Culture and spread Nariki hemisphere. Wars among the city-states were still fought in Shirmania through their vassals and allies there, and ir was aproved by the council for they believed it was neccessary to keep Shirmania and the Semites under their rule. Darntionus' father, Danton Dernaton Darntus and a brother to the Lord Dernaton Dernaton Darntus, the leader of the house, served as an advisor for the House of Strommdor. His family had been granted the rank of Landed Nobles in middle 400's for serving the people of Torchvan in war as well as the House of Strommdor. House of Darntus was held on high regard by the Lord's of Torchvan, and many of their leading members had served in imporant positions under Strommdor rule in Torchvan. Birth and Early Years Darntionus was the third and youngest recognized child of Danton Dernaton Darntus, preceded by his eldest sibling Erikka, who died in her teen years, and Menkon, who was born five years before Darntionus. Danton Dernaton Darntus had married Sora Af Enjnhelm, the daughter of greater house of Merenbürg, as part of the Merenbürg-Torchvan alliance, also known as the Southern Regions Alliance. Darntionus started to train for warfare in early years. Some historians believe he was able to yield a sword when he was only five years old. House of Darntus was a house of warriors, and most of the family was not taught the fine arts of politics, and in early years Darntionus concentrated only to advance his skills in leading armies. That would however change when he reached his teen years. Heir Apparent In 745 a fateful House gathering ruined House Strommdor, when a fire erupted at a wedding celebration. The men of House Strommdor, discussing plans to move against the Östers, were fatally trapped when a wall collapsed. Also killed was the Lord Dernaton Dernaton Darntus and his sons. This made Darntionus' father the new leader of the House of Darntus, but the accident was much more terrible to the house of Strommdor. Anton Strommdor, by then an old man, and great uncle of the former Lord Strommdor, was the last living male in the House, and he did not have any surviving male heirs. With few options, Anton offered Danton a deal - Danton would be named regent to the Torchvan throne, as the highest ranking noble left standing, if he would give one of his sons to House Strommdor to produce the next generation of the Great House. Danton agreed, and Menkon became the heir to Strommdor, with Darntionus remaining heir to House Darntus. Both brothers were quickly married to three surviving daughters of Strommdor - Menkon taking two brides, and Darntionus marrying Timonnia Strommdor, in 748. Head of the House Lord Strommdor passed away in 750, and Menkon Darntus Strommdor became ruler of Torchvan, with his father as Regent until the elder Darntus' death in 753 left Darntionus as leader of House Darntus. In 753, Menkon and Darntionus went to Merenbürg, for the Council of Eleven Houses - both of them going to their first meeting of the council. Both of them were denied a seat, on a vote of 7 to 3 (with only the Merenbürgs voting to seat the brothers), on the claim that Menkon rightfully was of House Darntus (and its rightful ruler), and thus ineligible to sit for Strommdor, and therefore Darntionus was ineligible to sit for Darntus. The meeting then ended, when the Af Enjnhelms walked out and ordered the guards to show the representatives of the other houses the way back out of town. A rump meeting of Five Houses then occurred, between the Merenbürg and Torchvan houses, where the Af Enjnhelms agreed that Menkon and Darntionus were both rightful leaders of their respective houses, Menkon was accorded the dignity of a visiting head of state, and military affairs were discussed. It was agreed that Darntionus would travel to Shirmania to lead a Torchvan army, in coordination with a Merenbürg army moving on Moete, which was then held by the Östers. It was the Moete campaign that taught Darntionus his firts real lessons in military tactics. Darntionus was victorious in Shirmania, taking over Moete and placing it under Torchvanian Protection for the third time. Unstable Pax In 756, the Council met again, this time in Narik. Pressure was placed on the Narik faction to seat the Torchvan nobles, under threat of war. This time, the Torchvan nobles were seated without dispute. Marcus Windwick was named to Preside over the council, 6-5, and the meeting resolved nothing. In 759, the Council met in Merenbürg. The Presidency moved to Timon Merr of Marchal, who was backed by the Merenbürg and Torchvan delegations. This time, the Östers were specifically not invited, due to attacks on allied cities in Shirmania. Two armies were ordered assembled at Marchal and Torchvan, to sack Öster in revenge. Marcus Windwick was named commander of the North army, and Karvan Af Enjnhelm would lead the South army. Karvan selected Darntus to be his Lieutenant, having fought together in Shirmania. The attack was a dismal failure - the North army was crushed almost before it had left sight of Marchal, and retreated. The South army made progress until an ambush was lain for it in the highlands above Öster. Karvan Af Enjnhelm was killed, and Darntus took command of a fighting retreat. Rather than pull back to Torchvan, he circled around mistakenly believing the North Army was close, and lay siege to the walls of Öster. The siege lasted a month, before news arrived that the North army was already back home, and reinforcements were about to attack his army's rear. Darntus led his army under cover of darkness up the foothills, and laid an ambush for the Öster rescuers, but had to withdraw afterwards for lack of supplies to maintain the siege with. Mainland Expedition The action in Öster, while technically a failure, was still seen as a victory for the young General from house Darntus. When the council met in 762, Darntus was nominated for President, but was defeated on a 6-5 vote by Marcus Windwick, who was becoming popularly known as The Coward. A faction of House Raux, led by Wynmer Raux privately met with Darntus and Menkon, suggesting that they would prefer to back a successful leader, but their cousins who led the house were more worried about house politics than victory or progress. At that council meeting, Darntus was suggested as commander of an expedition to Alkavon, in revenge for the mainland attacks on Nihaton. An objection was raised that only the ruler of a Great House could be named a General of Narikaton. Therefore, Menkon was named General, despite never having commanded troops in the field, with Darntus as his lieutenant. When the fleet left port, Menkon had remained ashore - effectively making Darntus the General, bypassing the council. Darntus' army crushed the ill-prepared Alkron tribals at Alkronton (destroying the city utterly), won four lesser battles convincingly, and was laying siege to Ghacrow, when news arrived from Narikaton that ended the campaign - his brother and his brothers sons had been assassinated. War of Narikatonite Succession On his return to Torchvan, the new Lord Darntus was out for blood. He immediately suspected that either House of Windwick or House of Raux had been behind the assassination. He contacted Wynmer Raux, with terms for an alliance. Wynmer then tried (but failed) to take Podrueja from the Windwicks in Shirmania but, and his sister Moira was promised as Darntus' second bride. The 764 council meeting in Merenbürg was fateful. Windwick and Raux were at each others throats over the attack at Podrueja, and Darntus arrived claiming he now held two seats (Darntus AND Strommdor). Worse (to the northern faction), he introduced Moira and Timonnia as his brides, directly claiming the privilege of a Major House, as multiple wifes had been a privilge of the highest nobles. At the meeting, he directly accused Windwick and Raux of the murder of his brother and his brother's sons by stealth. The Merr faction walked out of the meeting in disgust, proclaiming neutrality in the dispute, but cursing the other nobles for how far they had fallen - murder and intrigue. Merenbürg, Torchvan, and Öster (the latter hoping for war between the other states, most likely) fully backed Darntus' special petition to be named Governor to Prosecute the Wrongs Committed. Ansest and Narik declared war on each other, each blaming the other for the Battle of Podrueja, and the murders which had caused such turmoil. Narik faced two enemies, Ansest in North and Darntus' Southern Regions Alliance in the south. It took a while, but when Narik finally fell, Darntus repaid Wynmer. Narik itself had to be destroyed, but Wynmer was left standing as the new leader of House of Raux, and he pledged his fealty to Darntus, turning the tide in the war for good. In an irregular council meeting held on the ashes of Narik, Darntus was proclaimed King of Narikaton. As King, Darntus took the unprecedented move of taking a third wife, from House of Merr, which obviated the need to conquer Marcele. He then led his army, bolstered by Marcele, to siege and capture Ansest, deposing House of Windwick, and then turned to Öster, where he led the united island against the lone holdout and got his revenge for the failed attack decade before. Darntus was in 775 officially proclaimed His Majesty, the Earl of Torchvan, Lord Mayor of Oster, Governor of the Council, King of Narikaton and Shirmania. With the revenge for his brother's death settled, King Darntus turned to the unfinished business with the Alkrons on the mainland. Unification War and Birth of Darnussia When the Grand Kozar was defeated in 780, Darntus took his daughter as his fourth wife, and due to his first wife having passed away during the campaign, he never actually had four at the same time. The Duchies of Alkavon and Doressa were granted to his two eldest sons, with other sons taking Earldoms at Ghacrow and Grel. King of Darnussia Narikaton was renamed into Darnussia in 780, and Darntus was it's sole leader. He still had dozens of enemies in Narikaton and the Mainland, and he used politics, murder and bribery to unite the Kingdom under his rule. At the same time, he gave most of the important positions to his closest allies and sons, creating a new group of nobles loyal to him and Darnussia. Once King Darntus was crowned King he rewarded every Darnussian man a cow and every Darnussian women with a chicken. Darntus considered himself to be the father of his subordinates, and he claimed in his journal that he wanted only the good of his people. Infrastructure of the mainland was modernized to the level of Narikaton, and in the end he was more loved by the mainlanders than his brothers in Narikaton. All of his reforms were recieved well by the public and King Darntus maintained high morale everywhere. Death and Legacy In his final days, Darntus started to lose turst in his closer allies, believeing they would stabb him in the back. He was even affraid of his sons, who he had granted noble titles and lands everywhere, making them powerfull. The King did not leave his castle in Merenbürg in his final years nearly ar all. Darntus died in 800 when he reportedly jumped from a tower of his palace, hit the ground and died. Some believed that he was assassinated, and there were also legends and stories about how he became insane and believed he could actually fly, as his early nickname suggested. However while his journals make it clear that he did not trust anyone in the end, there is nothing else that would support the insanity. By his four wives, Darntus had at least 25 children - that number does not include children who died young, or illegitimate children he had produced. His daughters were married off to other houses, and to foreign ruling families at Bailon, Beluzia, Malivia, Luthori, and Beiteynu. Only seven of his sons actually survived to produce families of their own - the Kingdom of Darnussia passed to Darntus II, four sons populated the Mainland, who collectively became known as House of Darntus-Kozer, distinguishing from House of Darntus-Raux on the islands, and the other two became the Earls of Österlanden and Torchvan. Darntus II, who before taking the crown had been styled as Prince of Narikaton as heir apparent, passed that title to his own son. Titles Darntus through out his life held many important military and political titles. Darntus was: King, Saviour of Darnussia, Master of the Known World, General, Chief Priest, Governor of Narikaton, Dux, Dictator, and Highest Noble. Succession Sons of his first marriage to Timonnia Strommdor were known as House of Darntus, and were regarded highly by Darntus himself. Two of his eldest sons, Darntionus Danton Darntus II and Danton Danton Darntus died both in the wars of their father, and Darntus considered the prime line weak. After the death of Timonnia, Darntus named his 2nd wife as his Prime Wife, thus making his children with her the Darntus Prime. Darntus-und-Strommdor line died after his only surviving son was unable to have any children. Sons of his second wife, Moira, became known as Darntus-und-Raux, and Darntus' first son with Moira, Dantonite Dantus Darntus, became the Prince of Narikaton, Heir Apparent for the Throne of Darnussia, eventually becoming King Darntus II. His younger brothers Menkon Darntus II was given the the Earldom of Torchvan andPriscus Dernaton Darntus the Earldom of Öster. Darntus' sons with his third wife Elonore Merr were called Darntus-und-Merr. Sons with his fourth wife Emerald were known as Darntus-und-Kozer, and they were granted imporant positions in the new mainland provinces. Many of the Darntus-Kozer Sons married daughters of the local warlords to strengthen the Kingdom in Kozaria and Alkavon. Darntus' sons from his three first wifes were refered to as House of Darntus, and the children of hid fourth wife became known as House of Darntus-Kozer, was not a noble by Nariki laws and her children could not held titles in Narikaton. The two main lines, Darntus-und-Raux and Darntus-und-Merr mixmarriaged with eachother and noble houses of Raux, Af Ehjnhelm and Merr, and became eventually known as House of Darntus-Raux. Category:Darnussia Category:Darnussian Monarchs